HEDGEROWS 295 



iJ. repena (creeping buttercup), open ; dividsd leaL 



Rumex crispus (dock), open, dry. 



B. ohtnsifolius (broad-leaved dock), open, dry. 



Sagina procuwbens (pearlwort), open, dry. 



Scrophularia nodosa (flgwort), damp, shade. 



Sedum TdepMum (live-long), dry, shade. 



Senecio erucifoUus (hoary ragwort), dry ; divided leaf. 



■S. Jacohoea (common ragwort), dry ; divided leaf. 



S. vulgaris (groundsel). 



SoncTms arvensis (sow-thistle), dry. 



Spiraea Ulmaria (meadow-sweet), moist, shade ; divided leaf. 



Stdlaria graminea, shade. 



S. Holosiea (greater stitchwort), shade. 



8. media (ohickweed), prostrate. 



Symphytum officinale (comfrey), moist, shade. 



Uriica dioica (nettle), dry. 



Veronica Ohamoedrys (germander -speedwell), shade. 



V. officinalis (common speedwell), dry, open. 



Viola odorata (sweet violet), shade. 



V. sylvatica (dog-violet), shade. 



Among grasses the most common are : Bromus sterilis 

 (barren brome), B. mollis (soft brome), Arrhenatherum 

 avenaceum (false oat), Avena faiua (wild oat), A. saliva 

 (cultivated oat), Festuca Mywos (wall-fescue), Briza 

 media (quaking grass), Brachypodium sylvaticum (false 

 brome), Triticum repens (couch-grass), Agrostis vulgaris 

 (fine bent-grass), Hordeum murinum (barley), Poa annua, 

 and Aira flexuosa. 



Where the climate is moist, ferns occupy an important 

 position in the vegetation of the hedgerow. The most 

 frequent are : Scolopendrium vulgare (hart's-tongue), Aspi- 

 dium Filix-mas (male-fern), A. aculeatum (prickly shield- 

 fern), Athyrium Filix-fwmina (lady-fern) ; where the soil 

 is sandy : Blechnum Spicant (hard fern), Asplenium 

 Adiantum-nigrum (black spleenwort) and Polypodium 

 vvlgare (common polypody). In west Britain and Ireland 

 Osmunda regalis (royal fern) is often common in the 

 hedgerow-ditch. 



The strip of waste ground between the hedge and the 

 road is tenanted by a very mixed vegetation, especially 

 if the soU is frequently disturbed. The first plants to 

 appear are annuals — e.g., Poa annua, shepherd's-purse, 

 and groimdsel — but if left undisturbed the soil becomes 

 covered with a grass-community, and many of the weeds 

 disappear. In addition to many plants of the dry hedge- 

 bank, the following may occur : clovers, Medicago lupulina 

 (black medick), Plantago major (great plantain), Melilotus 



